A year long study by WDS of more than 600,000 technical support calls has found that Android devices are more likely to develop a hardware fault than many of their smartphone competitors. 14% of all technical support calls for Android devices related to hardware faults in contrast to just 3.7% for RIM BlackBerry, 8% for iPhones (iOS) and 9% for Windows Phone 7 devices.

The greater propensity for hardware faults is, says WDS, a symptom of the
platform's fragmentation across a broad range of OEMs. Both Apple and RIM
control their hardware ecosystems and Microsoft mandates minimum hardware
specifications for Windows Phone deployments. In contrast, Android is widely
deployed by more than 35 OEMs globally under an open source license.

The study found that instances of hardware faults varied between OEM
deployments, with some brands showing a propensity to display faults, others to
keypad / button failures and some to microphone and battery issues. The
findings, says WDS, highlight the need for mobile operators to consider the
Total Cost of Ownership, including support and potential reverse logistics
costs, and not just the unit price of the device when ranging product.

"Android has been instrumental in bringing smartphone technology into
the mass-market. The maturation of the industry, availability of hardware
components and a reduction in manufacturing costs has seen some OEMs drop the
price of Android smartphones below US$100," explains Craig Rich, Chief
Marketing Officer at WDS. "However, many of these factors are also driving
varying levels of hardware quality into the market, in turn delivering an
inconsistent customer experience."

Unlike many support calls taken by mobile operators, such as connectivity and
service configuration, hardware failures cannot typically be resolved by
Customer Service Representatives. Instead they add further cost by entering the
returns and repair channel.

"Mobile operators have to make important decisions when selecting which
smartphones to range on their networks," adds Rich. "They must balance
the need to introduce low-cost smartphone devices with the Total Cost of
Ownership; a $100 smartphone might not look so attractive if it drives x3 more
support cost over its lifetime or has an above-average return rate that impacts
customer loyalty," finishes Rich.

The study took place between June 2010 and May 2011 and covered 600,000
technical support calls taken by WDS across Europe, North America, South Africa
and Australia.